Africa, except for a few areas, such as South Africa or the African Mediterranean countries, is usually missing from international medical forums or conferences that discuss menopause-related issues. For many of us, Africa is still an enigma although one may speculate that the problems surrounding the climacterium are similar to those elsewhere in the world. A study from the city of Enugu, Nigeria, sheds some light on knowledge of postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT) in women who attended a local university hospital gynecology clinic [1]. In short, the knowledge and perception of PHT among women of South-East Nigeria were found to be poor and related to the level of education. A total of 432 women were randomly selected for the survey, out of which 168 (39%) had knowledge of PHT and only 48 (11%) had taken it in the past. Currently, none was using PHT despite experiencing menopausal symptoms. The majority of women perceived climacteric symptoms as part of the aging process.
Author(s)
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Amos Pines
Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Citations
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Okeke TC, Akogu SP, Ekwuazi KE, Ezenyeaku CC, Ikeako LC. A survey of womens knowledge and perception of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in Enugu, South East Nigeria. Niger J Med 2013;22:332-5.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24283095 -
Ikeme A, Okeke TC, Akogu S, Chinwuba N. Knowledge and perception of menopause and climacteric symptoms among a population of women in Enugu, South East Nigeria. Ann Med Health Sci Res 2011;1:31-6
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23209952 -
Ande AB, Omu OP, Ande OO, Olagbuji NB. Features and perceptions of menopausal women in Benin City, Nigeria. Ann Afr Med 2011;10:300-4.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22064257 -
Adekunle AO, Fawole AO, Okunlola MA. Perceptions and attitudes of Nigerian women about the menopause. J Obstet Gynaecol 2000;20:525-9.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15512643 -
Odiari EA, Chambers AN. Perceptions, attitudes, and self-management of natural menopausal symptoms in Ghanaian women. Health Care Women Int 2012;33:560-74.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22577742
